


Sanguine

by DesdemonaAngel



Category: Subspecies (1991)
Genre: Blood, F/M, Flirting, Human/Vampire Relationship, Intimacy, Michelle the vampire tamer, Radu is still a boss, Romance, Sexy Times, Strangers to Lovers, Subspecies AU, Trust Issues, consensual sexy times for science!, dark tones, f-ed up family dynamics, so much blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:02:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27387634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesdemonaAngel/pseuds/DesdemonaAngel
Summary: We know the story: three girls researching the lore of Romania and its dark secrets. Of Radu, a master vampire and his minions ready to take over the night. And of feuding brothers fighting for possession of the ancient relic, The Bloodstone.But what if the fates had crossed the paths of both Radu and Michelle before the gears were set into motion, leading to something much deeper for them both?
Relationships: Michelle Morgan/Radu Vladislas
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheSawisFamily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSawisFamily/gifts).



The dawn had caught up to Radu much faster than he’d liked to admit. The Bloodstone had skewed his sense of time as Radu had become intoxicated and euphoric from the red liquid it spilled over his tongue; he’d drifted on waves of both power and bliss. All night he’d indulged from the stone, sucking it nearly dry, though the magic of it kept that from happening. _At last_ , he’d thought. _It was finally his_ . And his cursed father-- _gone_ ! All that stood between his rightful place on the throne now was his pitiful little half brother... _Stefan_. 

Radu knew it was only a matter of time before _he_ showed up to try and stop what he was doing. He sneered at the thought. Let him try, it would only serve to amuse him further. 

At some point, he’d taken to flight in his shadow form though he couldn’t recall doing so or when. He’d woken from his stupor sprawled across the forest floor, the dry bed of leaves crackling under him as he righted himself to sit up stiffly. He’d been dazed at first, unsure of his location. Looking around him he’d seen the brightening of the sky in the east and knew dawn was drawing nigh. Radu’s legs were as unsteady as a newborn colt but he managed to stand. Cursing under his breath he could sense that he was too far from the castle to fly, leaving him no other option than to bunk down for the day somewhere else. 

The light on the eastern horizon was already getting stronger; he could make out the details of the trees in the early morning gloom. Quickly he took to flight, shadowing through the thick woodland; through the tree’s he passed silently though the world was starting to wake around him. The Bloodstone had empowered him beyond anything Radu had felt possible, more than he’d ever felt in his existence, yet the coming of the sun still made him sluggish and his limbs feel leaden and heavy.

The Prejmer monastery he knew was close by; not many other options for safety came to mind. Perhaps it was for the best. If his little brother was skulking around then the monastery was more than likely his resting place. _And he could be_ _right under Stefans nose_ , thought Radu. _That is if he were indeed holed up inside the structure somewhere_. Radu could only hope he wouldn’t be spotted by his dhampir half-brother else all would be for naught that he’d worked so hard for. 

He landed near a woodshed and rematerialized. In the sky, the first rosy fingers of dawn began to stretch out as though they were seeking him out. Grasping his sides in pain, Radu staggered away from the shed. His eyes spotted the doors of a cellar that was thankfully wide open which connected to the main building of the monastery. An easy access point. He managed to hobble over and descend the stairs into the darkness, the hinges squealing as he shut the doors behind him leaving Radu in blessed darkness.

He needed a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dark once more before he scanned the cellar for a safe enough place to rest for the day, one that would enable him back to the castle once dusk fell. His eyes landed on several old crates covered in moth-eaten burlap and old baskets; the sponginess of the old wood appeared to have seen better seasons. Regardless, Radu shuffled to it before sweeping aside the mishmash of objects on top and lifting the lid. Finding it devoid of anything he swung his legs over the sides and pulled the aged lid back into place to seal any light out whatsoever. 

Radu then slumped against the corner of the crate, tucking his claws away and folding his arms trying to find a means to be comfortable. It wasn't a comfortable fit though, but he had survived worse in the past, so it would do. Here he would wait the day out and return to his home after nightfall. The part of him that was also inside each of the subspecies knew that the Bloodstone was in no danger of being found, and with that last thought in his mind Radu let his eyes close and the death sleep take him.

* * *

  
  


“Whoo! I don’t know about you, but I’m beat after all that,” Lillian exclaimed while stretching her arms above her head. Both Mara and Michelle nodded in agreement while stifling yawns as they trekked up the road and into the fortress grounds from Mara’s car. Since early that morning they’d been on the go, waking soon after the sun had risen and packing hastily the few things they would all need for their notes on the surrounding areas from Prejmer. 

Mara had been their guide, generously showing her two American friends the places she had frequented as a girl, saying how her family had ties to the land many generations back. Like so many people though, Mara’s family had been uprooted by the revolution and they had sent her to America to avoid most of the conflict.

“I could use some food and maybe something strong to drink,” Mara said. All three girls stomped up the old wooden steps and into their quarters. Since none of them had thought to bring change, rock-paper-scissors was the next best option as to who got the room next door and slept alone. Michelle had lost both times to Lillian and Mara so she got stuck in the single room by herself. Maybe it was for the best and would help her focus more on her studies; this wasn’t a complete vacation away from her schooling. 

“--Ion and Rosa won’t be back tonight, they got some time off. Karl told me before we left that they’re helping with the festival preparations.” Mara continued, slinging her pack onto her bed. Lillian landed with a soft “oof” face-first onto her bed a moment later. 

“Guess we’re on our own for dinner then,” Michelle said. She glanced out the doorway; the sun was just starting to set over the building. _It might even be clear enough tonight to see the moon_ , she thought. 

After visiting the village of Prejmer nearby and exploring, the three of them had made a quick stop by the ruins of Castle Vladislas to take some photos of their adventures which was only an hour's hike from the monastery. Lillian had wanted desperately to sneak in and get a better look inside but ultimately both Mara and Michelle’s whining about getting back won out in the end.

“We can use the kitchens and anything in the storeroom and cellar,” Mara added. “Plus there are a few bottles of wine down there we’re free to help ourselves to, courtesy of our hosts _“The Romanian Historical Society”_.”

“I’ll go get one then,” Michelle said, readjusted the notepad and coat she had in her arms.

“You sure you know where it is?” asked Mara.

“I’ll find my way. Don’t worry.” Michelle smiled at them before turning to descend the steps and head in the direction of the kitchens. She caught Lillian's voice as she got to the bottom of the stairs bemoaning how none of them couldn’t cook to save their lives. Snickering, Michelle headed off.

She dared not overthink it, but a little part of Michelle felt so familiar with her new surroundings that it was like she’d always been a part of this world only seen in books and photographs. The fortress and grounds were smaller than those constructed back during the medieval period in Romania, but she could still remember quite a few details about it from reading through the journal entries of the survivors who’d defended that area from Turks who’d wished to invade. Even about the strange deaths of said invaders that the peasants attributed to “vampires”. Michelle was certain Karl appreciated that the three girls staying at the monastery at least had taken the courtesy of informing themselves and not looking like complete tourists.

  
  


As she rounded the corner of the kitchen building Michelle collided with someone and stumbled back; a pair of hands caught her by the shoulders to steady her. 

“Oh, I’m sorry!”

“It's quite alright. Are you ok, miss?”

Michelle looked into the face of a young man who was perhaps a bit older than her. His dark hair and eyes as well as his strong features were quite handsome. Yet Michelle could also see that there was a wariness in his posture like he was cautious about something or someone. _But--_ she thought,-- _he had just bumped into her_ , _probably just startled him._

“Um yeah, thanks,” she said after getting her feet back under her and standing again.

“You must be one of the scholars from America Karl told me about. I am Stefan Velescu,” the young man said before offering his hand. Michelle reached out and grasped his, giving it a quick shake and noting that he felt quite chilly for it being summertime. “Michelle Morgan. Nice to meet you.”

“I must apologize for startling you, keeping odd hours is just my habit now. I'm a Zoologist studying the nocturnal nightlife in these parts and don’t want you or your friends to be alarmed at my comings and goings late in the evening.”

“Oh, that's alright. We’re studying the folklore of Romania and animals often figure into those stories. Maybe one of these nights we could all sit down together and compare notes?” she suggested. Having that kind of insight into animal behaviors might make their dissertations even more enriched she thought. This trip was starting to feel more and more like a goldmine of materials all three of them could use. Hell, there might even be more than enough to publish in her own thesis let alone her friends. _PhD's here we come_ , she thought giddily. 

Stefan smiled. “I’ll see what can be arranged. Until then Miss Morgan, have a good evening.” Just as Stefan made to leave he turned back to her and mentioned one last thing. “I must caution you and your friends though. It's dangerous around here at night.”

Michelle’s mind went to the first possibility of ruffians in the area causing problems. “We weren’t expecting any trouble.” And here she’d left her baseball bat at home with her sister instead, damn it. However, Michelle wasn’t completely unprepared for the scenario of a scuffle and remembered the thing of mace in her bags should push come to shove.

Stefan shook his head. “Some animals are more dangerous at night and it’s best to stay indoors. I’d be happy to walk you or your friends to and from the buildings at night if you feel uneasy. But you should all be safe as long as you stay inside the walls of the fortress, so try not to worry. Have a good evening.” Stefan nodded once more and with those parting words the young man left. Michelle watched his back until he disappeared around the building's foundations and out of sight.

_How...odd_ , she thought. 

Finding the kitchen building and the doors to the cellar wasn’t hard after her encounter with Stefan, she’d only been a little ways off from its location. Michelle pulled open the weathered storm doors, its old iron hinges crying from the strain, and made her way into the cellar which was below the fortress kitchens, taking the stairs a bit cautiously. They screeched with every step she took downwards. Michelle didn’t like the prospect of going through one of the steps but the fear dissipated as she reached the stone floor.

It was gloomily dark but still, she could make out the outlines and shapes of various shelves and storage crates against the walls. Jars of preserved vegetables and fruits stood waiting on the shelving, collecting dust. Hanging from the ceiling above her were dried bundles of herbs; she sniffed curiously at the air trying to figure out what smell belonged to which bundle. 

_It didn’t really matter,_ she thought. But there was still a part of her that felt the excitement of earlier return. To think, herself, Mara, and Lillian were actually staying in the Prejmer Fortress. Michelle looked up the stairs and outside; there was just enough light that she could write something down in her notepad about her experiences before she got too focused on helping to either make or find something for dinner. The only flat surface Michelle could see to sit and hastily jot down her footnotes were a set of crates pushed against the far wall. It would do.

Taking her things over, Michelle dropped her coat onto the lid and hopped up next to it to sit. Opening it up to an empty page, she quickly set to writing things into the notebook she’d taken earlier that day. Outside, the last fleeting rays of sun slipped away under the line of the horizon. 

Michelle was just getting settled and organizing her thoughts when she felt and heard something underneath her. She paused. There was nothing and the cellar was quiet. Shrugging it off she went back to her notebook. 

But then it happened again. Only this time it was stronger as the crate actually rattled beneath her. The lid shifted so hard then underneath that Michelle spooked and jumped off of the top, quickly darting over to a nearby broom leaning against one of the support beams to arm herself. 

Anxiety spiked fluttered in her stomach. “It's just a rat, Michelle. It's just a rat,” she told herself, still not liking the idea of dealing with vermin. _It would have to be a damn huge rat then._

A strange and eerie glow appeared from between the boards of the box only to die down again and Michelle was left in the semi darkness of the cellar once more. But only for a moment. Her eyes widened as the lid began to creak open by a fraction. Her grip on the broom handle tightened when one lengthy pale hand with spidery-like long fingers grasped the edge of the wood. When the lid was pushed up and a figure with which the hand was attached too finally stood from within, her jaw dropped.

Two watery blue eyes half lost inside the dark caverns that were sockets pierced through her. Michelle looked into the face of... _something not human._ It appeared to be a man, his face was shockingly white and smooth, the angles of his ghoulish features terrifying and gaunt. Strands of dark hair obscured part of his features but weren’t long enough to hide the red slit of his mouth or the sharp and inhuman length of his fangs which protruded over his lower lip in a snarl.

_“nu un șobolan…”_

Michelle blinked. 

The man glared back at her.

“I--I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that,” she stuttered as her brain tried to comprehend what was going on...Who was this guy?? Did the Romanian Historical Society hire an actor to scare the two students from America? Michelle had to admit if that was the case, his makeup was impeccable. 

“I said _I am not a rat_ . And put that thing away woman, you’ll poke someone's eye out,” Radu rasped. _And here he’d thought he’d found the perfect resting spot, curses,_ he thought. _Oh well, at least he wouldn’t need to hunt too hard that night_. The woman stood her ground, the brush part of the broom firmly pointing at him still. 

Radu could feel her looking him over curiously. This was not how he’d imagined waking up: with the lid to his resting place jammed and now a human trying to confront him. He let his gaze roam over the woman's appearance. Clothing not of the peasants, he could tell easily since they smelled cleaner. The woman's hair was far too short and almost in a boyish fashion. And the language she used...they were all obvious indications that she was far from her homeland across the sea. _An American woman then,_ he mused. But what was she doing so far from home and in the very heart of the land where dark fairytales lived and breathed? 

Mara’s voice broke the spell of the moment of confrontation. “Michelle? Did you find the cellar alright?” she called down.

Without thinking Michelle lurched forward and shoved the man back into the crate, slamming the lid down hearing a sickening crack as the edge of it slammed onto his hand. Inside of the crate she heard his cry of pain and Romanian cursing.

_“Blestemă-te, femeie nenorocită!”_

  
  


Michelle looked over and saw Mara’s legs descend the steps of the cellar not a moment later. Quickly picking her coat up from where it had slid off and onto the floor, Michelle glanced up to see that, yes, the lid of the crate had indeed come down onto the man’s fingers just above the first knuckle and winced when she thought she saw some blood. Hearing Mara approach, Michelle threw her coat back onto the lid so her friend's view was blocked from the unnatural sight, stood, turned, and smiled at Mara as if nothing was the matter.

“There you are, Lillian and I were getting worried. Are you alright, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Mara reached forward to feel Michelle's forehead in concern

“I-I’m alright. I just--uh--was going over some of my notes is all,” Michelle said, trying to sound convincing.

“I thought you were looking for the wine?”

“Oh I was! But then I got distracted, sorry.” Underneath her hand, Michelle was sure she felt some shifting around inside the container. Mara peered closer at her friend trying to figure out what had startled her friend.

“Are you sure you’re feeling alright? It might be jetlag catching up on you,” Mara suggested.

Michelle closed her eyes and focused on getting her heartbeat to slow down. When she opened them a moment later she noticed something scurry quickly into a dark corner of the room behind Mara. Feeling the hairs on the back of her neck rise, Michelle decided that now was the time to get out of the dark and weird cellar. Grabbing her coat in one arm and linking her other free one with Maras to keep them both walking to the exit, Michelle hustled them both away.

“You know, I think you’re right. But it's nothing a little food and a swig or two of wine won’t cure. Let's grab that bottle we were promised, figure out dinner, and get back before Lillian starts to worry,” Michelle said through her plastered on a smile. She thanked whoever had put the wine rack closer to the stairs leading out into the open as she grabbed the first one they passed by, not even daring to look over her shoulder though it felt like there were eyes watching their backs as they left.

All through dinner, which turned out to be some bread and a few apples they’d managed to scrounge in the kitchen, Michelle tried to act natural. But in the back of her mind, she knew things were off around the monastery and anxiously waited for something-- or anything--to happen. But strangely nothing did. Both Lillian and Mara noticed her shift in mood, though they made no comment on it. After dinner, and a few slugs of wine from the bottle, however, they all seemed to be relaxed enough to talk about their day more.

“So what did you guys think of the castle?” Lillian asked her friends.

Mara shrugged and reached for the wine bottle between them on the table. “It was interesting if a bit oppressive. You know--the strange thing about the Castle Vladislas is that it isn’t mentioned in any records, at least in nothing that I’ve ever read,” she told them before taking a pull from the bottle. 

“Isn’t that weird? We may need to go back at some point in the next few weeks then to get some better photos for our notes,” Lillian suggested. “We’ve got a month and a half for this trip.”

Mara snickered. “Oh please, we all know you just want to take a look around inside, you snoop.” 

“Well America isn’t exactly known for its mysterious castles now, is it? What about you Michelle, wanna go castle crawling?” Lillian asked, wiggling her eyebrows at Michelle who seemed to finally notice that she’d been addressed and came out of her internal musings. “Hmm? Oh...yeah, sure.” 

“Michelle, what's wrong? You’ve been off ever since we got back here,” Lillian pouted, giving her a look. It was easy for Lillian to spot when Michelle wasn’t herself, they’d been around each other long enough to recognize when the other was moody. They’d been friends since the beginning of college back in the states after all.

Scratching the back of her neck, Michelle sighed. “It's just...I thought I saw something earlier down in the cellar and I just can’t get it out of my mind. It was probably nothing.” Though when she said it her mind went back to the moment the man spoke to her. The sound of his voice had been unexpectedly coarse and throaty, more the sound of a throat cold than anything. But what Michelle did remember clearly even though the darkness of the basement has obscured his features somewhat was the unnaturally long thin fingers that ended in curved pale talons.

Michelle lifted her eyes and looked at Mara across the table. “Y'know the festival we’re going to?” 

“Oh yeah, it's one of the reasons we’re here,” Mara replied teasingly. Michelle smiled, accepting the bottle of red Lillian slid over to her. “Oh come on. I’m just wondering: what is it about this festival that's so intertwined with vampire lore that it's lasted for so long?”

“So basically, you’re just wondering about vampires in general,” Lillian said.

Shrugging, Michelle continued. “Yeah I know, it's cliche. But we’re here in _Romania_ , and there’s a _Festival of the Undead_ , what else are we going to talk about?” 

Mara cleared her throat “Well… I’m sure you know the story about the handful of Transylvanian peasants that held out from the Turks invading over five hundred years ago here...” she started. Both Lillian and Michelle nodded; they’d read the story and diary entries numerous times back in their classes for medieval history in the states. 

“--There’s an old woman that lives near the village we can go see tomorrow; she knows more of the story appeared and she is also the local _vrăjitoare,_ or I guess in American you would say “Witch”. 

“Wow really? That's perfect then,” Michelle said, all of her unease or previous niggling in her mind was quickly swept away at the prospect of a good source of lore for their dissertations. “Hey and just think, we’ll get to be the ones documenting this!” Lillian interjected.

“Well then here’s to our stay in Prejmer; may we all publish our dissertations and get our Phd’s,” Mara beamed to her friends, her cheeks flushed from the alcohol.

Michelle raised the bottle up. “Cheers, I’ll drink to that,” she saluted and took a big gulp. Michelle didn’t normally drink with the exception of family dinners and it was usually white wine for her. The red wine was much headier than she was used to and went right to her head. _You know what though, I’m having a good time and it's the start of our adventure here in Romania!_

With that thought in mind the trio of girls giggled and talked late into the night, all the while a small unseen figure watched them from the shadows.

* * *

  
  
  


Troublesome; that was the word Radu had felt on the tip of his tongue all evening. That woman had been troublesome. Nay, _the entire situation_ had become most troublesome. Radu could have easily snatched away the woman he’d encountered down in the dank kitchen cellars and had easy meal. 

She’d shown fear at his visage as was often evoked in humans and vampires alike. There was a satisfaction he’d learned to appreciate in his appearance, the surety of what sort of reaction he garnered from others. But when the woman had had the audacity to push him back down into the recesses of the crate Radu had been more surprised than angered until his finger had been severed off as the lid slammed shut on it. 

He’d pulled and wiggled the rest of his fingers back inside the box, hissing, and cursing at the woman for how wretched she was to have done that. Radu would have forced his way back out again to spring upon her to drink with animalistic pleasure, as was his nature, yet the sound of another woman’s voice gave him pause. Holding his injured hand, he’d shuffled inside the box until he could press his ear to the wood and listen. 

Judging by the two’s conversation, it appeared that there was more than one lovely wench occupying the fortress quarters. _Prejmer Fortress housed more than just Stefan_ , Radu smirked. Three women so close in proximity to the castle...he would tuck that bit of information away for later when he had the time to indulge. There was still the matter of his little brother snooping about...

Once the voices of both women faded out of range and all was silent, Radu lifted the lid with the exception of adding more caution, not wanting a repeat with more fingers missing. Despite the cleverness of the blood sorcery he’d mastered in creating his little pets from his own flesh and blood, it still hurt. Something slid off the top of the lid as he lifted it up and landed on the stone floor with a thump that echoed down in the cavernous cellar. 

Radu swung his legs over the edge and climbed free of his resting place, grateful to be out of the cramped and mildewing confinements. He scanned around the box until something drew his attention. On the floor beside the crate, he saw what appeared to be a journal of sorts laying half-open, its pages were stark-white enough for him to see even in the gloom. He picked it up by a corner with his index claw and thumb and brought it up to his eye level to investigate closer, adjusting his hold on the book so it was propped in his claws to read rather; careful to not tear the pages or bend them as he did so. Radu’s eyes scanned quickly over the neat graphite lettering.

It was a recounting of the history of Prejmer fortress and the monastery. There were entries on when it had been built, what its purpose had been in the past, entries on the monks who’d lived their short and boring lives transcribing verses of the holy bible into Illuminations for the nobles. There was even a section on the battle of 1400 and of Vlad Dracul’s peasant army that once holed themselves inside from the Turkish army. 

_Ah_ , thought Radu, _that brought back memories._ Having once been a knight himself, Radu had seen a great many battles in his youth; the stand-off at Prejmer Fortress had been no different. He shook his head, dissipating the memories away. _Another time to dwell on those_ , he told his mind. Flipping the page with the tips of his talons, Radu's eyes lit on the underlined header written on the top of the other side of the paper. 

_On the Vampyres of Romania and Prejmer._

_Interesting,_ he thought _._ Tucking the journal into his jacket he made a hasty exit, shadowing away. 

The Festival of the Undead approached within a few days' time; always during the first full moon of summer as the tradition amongst the locals dictated since the time of their forefathers' survival once the threat of the Turks had been eliminated. Superstition was ingrained into the simple folk of Prejmer as the festival also served another purpose. Not only was it to celebrate the survival of the peasants, but it was to also eliminate the threat of more vampires being born and hunting them down.

_If only they knew_. Radu stalked down a young man who’d been on his way back home for the night, no doubt from preparations for the festivities at the site near the hamlet's graveyard; shame he wouldn’t live to see its fruition. The young man cursed in Romanian while struggling against the dark entity that had sprung from the woods near the lonely dirt road, crushing him in an iron grasp. Radu preened his fangs, his saliva dripping from them while he crushed the man's windpipe, silencing his cries. As he sank his fangs into the man's artery a mental image came to him while he feasted; of the newest subspecies that had been birthed from his severed finger. 

The newest of his little pets was very active and alert. Radu could both sense and see snippets of projected images the creature broadcasted to its master which were currently of the three women sitting around a simple wooden table, a dark bottle of wine between them laughing and talking. Radu urged the subspecies to look closer, get better details of each of their features for him. 

The young man gurgled wetly as the last traces of his life were snuffed out. Radu threw his corpse into the bushes on the side of the road like litter; a dried-out husk unable to revive as a spawn of the night. That and Radu had snapped the man's neck as an extra precaution. Having just himself and Stefan in the area was enough to deal with for the time. But that might change soon, he thought.

Radus’ fangs were both long and sharp enough to puncture with dagger-like sharpness, yet always there was a mess running down his chin afterward. He’d given up centuries ago trying to catch every drop of blood spilled; the length of his fangs made it impossible to maneuver his mouth in such a way. He licked his chops of the blood as more dripped down his chin, smacking his lips at the taste and ran his tongue along the inside of his teeth still concentrating on the visions his little pet continued to share.

The dark-haired young woman stood up from the table swaying tipsily on her feet, bid farewell to her other companions, and left the room. Telepathically Radu commanded his minion to follow her. Staying within the shadows and corners of the room, the subspecies obeyed its masters' will.

It was the young woman that had rudely started his evening, Radu noted. He urged the subspecies closer to see her in the candlelight of the room she’d just entered; it crept from under the desk in the room and made its way to hide under the single bed. 

The young woman turned in the vision having heard something scrabble across the wooden floorboards and looked down, the subspecies just shy of making it across the floor to the bedframe. Her eyes widened and she took a step back, jaw open as though to scream. Before Radu could command the subspecies to flee, the young woman bounded across the room in three quick steps and scooped the little monster up in her hands. Radu hissed at the vision and in turn, the subspecies hissed at the one who had captured it. 

Growling In frustration, Radu’s eyes snapped open and he threw a glance over his shoulder at the silhouette of the fortress. The meddling of that woman had gone on far enough.

* * *

  
  


The people of Prejmr had a saying they told their children to keep them in bed and safe indoors; that bedtime for humans was still early for vampires.

Michelle lay in bed, trying to relax, keeping her eyes shut so it might look like she was asleep. Her mind however was still reeling partially from the heady red wine she’d had earlier that night, but mostly because of her little unwelcome visitor she’d found skulking around in the monastery bedroom. Tipsily, she’d wobbled back to her quarters after saying good-night to Mara and Lillian, all the worries of earlier that evening having been washed away with good Romanian red wine and talk of the festivities. Michelle had heard what sounded like something moving quickly across the wooden floorboards behind her. She’d turned thinking to catch sight of a mouse scurrying by. All of that however was soon replaced with shock when Michelle saw a little red demon watching her at the foot of her bed there on the floor.

She’d acted on instinct when she’d captured it, but then quickly realized she had nowhere to put it other than to maybe wrap it up in her coat so it wouldn’t escape. The creature hissed and squirmed, attempting to wiggle free from her grip. With her free hand, she’d shook her thick denim jacket with the soft fuzzy lining out and realized something; her notebook had gone missing. Michelle had thought she’d grabbed it up with her coat on escaping the cellar with Mara, which had also meant that it was still probably down there along with that...man.

Something felt off suddenly for Michelle, like a cool gust of air passing over her form as it lay prone under the blankets. From behind her dark lashes, Michelle dared a glance around the room. 

On the wall across from her bed, Michelle could clearly see the silhouette of a man, one with spidery-like fingers extended. The image of the infamous Nosferatu scene flashed briefly in her mind sending a chill down her back. A moment later and the shadow on the wall she’d seen became more solid and corporeal. Michelle sat up, the scratchy wool blanket falling off of her shoulder; her skin prickled at the chilly night air which permeated the stone walls even in summer.  
  


Three silent strides across the floor and the man was standing in front of her bed. “Hello my dear,” he said smiling toothily at Michelle. She felt a shiver run down her spine, starting at her neck and cha-chaing its way down to her lower back. 

She noticed the finger which had been damaged was healed up, nary a scratch or bruise, and nodded towards it. “Looks like your finger is alright even after getting squashed by the lid earlier.”

“Indeed. It still hurt, however.” There was a pause between them and the air hung silently heavy in her room. 

“It seems in your haste to depart you left something behind,” his voice rasped, breaking the silence as he reached his claws into the folds of his black jacket pulling out a small book. Michelle recognized it instantly, reaching out to snatch it away from him but the vampire was quicker and pulled it out of her reach. 

He raised an invisible eyebrow at her. “I believe you have my pet in your possession. I would like him back now.” 

_That weird little demon-thing was his??_ Michelle licked her lips since it felt like her entire mouth had gone dry. _Must be from the wine,_ her brain offered. 

“Maybe...we can trade?” she offered hesitantly.

He nodded slightly, appearing to consider it. “...perhaps. What would you trade though?”

“If you want your little _“creature”_ back, I have some questions first.”

The intensity of his eyes burned darker. “Fine. Make your requests quickly before I find...other ways to amuse myself,” he uttered, the tone of his voice dropping several octaves down to an almost growl. Even in the dim light of the room she could see the wickedness of his tusk-like fangs as he grinned down at her. 

Inhaling sharply, feeling her stomach clench at this display, Michelle’s mind tried to work up a plan. _Come on Shelly, be brave. You’re smart_ , _think,_ she told herself, willing her voice to work again. “F-first I want you to tell me what you are. Is this some sort of prank gone too far? I mean I know the Romanian Historical Society knew some Americans were going to be staying here, but I don’t think we’re that gullible to fall for a guy in makeup,” she babbled on.

Something cold and ticklish move up her arm, caressing her skin. Awkwardly Michelle extracted herself from what she could only assume was a hand or the set of claws that she’d seen. She licked her dry lips and plowed forward. “Second...I want you to swear not to harm my friends and I while we stay here.”

The vampire appeared to think on it, tapping the end of one of his long claws against his chin. “An interesting proposition...three mortal women in my lands, all quite beautiful and ripe for the picking, and yet I seem to have crossed paths with the loveliest of them all. Wouldn’t you agree, Pretty-one?” The man's lack of eyebrows didn’t affect his ability to raise them in question as he stood there looking down at Michelle. A hot flush washed over her and she glanced away. 

He gave a dry chuckle. “Fear not, you alone will have my _undivided_ attention. You...intrigue me.”

“Oh goody. S-so I take it that you’re...you’re not human and not someone pretending to be a...vampire.”

“Not even a little,” he replied, a touch of amusement in his tone. “I am a Strigoi. Or perhaps a Moroi if you were to examine deeper.”

“If that's the case then I have one final request.”

“You’ve already asked for much. Although I am generous I am also known to take back what was mine to begin with. What will you grant me if I allow this one last request from you?” he asked. Michelle again felt the tickling sensation return only this time it was on her left cheek. Her heart quickened thinking how dangerous those claws were so close to her eyes.

“I-I want…” she stammered.

“Yes?” His voice, though withered sounding, had a strangely mesmerizing effect the longer Michelle listened. Maybe it could have been the wine in her system but Michelle felt her mind ease as he spoke to her.

  
  


“...to interview you.” 

The sensation stopped and she felt his claws retract away from her; the blood rushed in her ears like the sound of waves receding. Michelle gulped.

“Oh?”

_This is crazy,_ she chided herself. _I’m in a foreign country and don’t know my way around, there’s a man who clearly isn’t human talking with me, and none of this makes sense!_ Her bags were on the table behind him, including the one where she kept her pepper-spray for situations that called for it. Metally, Michelle kicked herself for not sleeping with it under her pillow. _Then again,_ she thought, _were you expecting any of this to happen?_

  
  


She took a deep breath and continued on. "Yes. I'm a college student studying the folklore of this area with my friends. To be able to have such an opportunity like this happen is--is incredible, to say the least!" she said quickly. It had been the first thing to pop into her mind after it started working again.

Michelle pulled the blanket aside and swung her legs out and over the edge of the mattress. Her legs wobbled briefly until she mentally had to make them stop giving her attitude and work. On the bedside table was a candle she’d been using since the fortress only had electricity in certain areas such as the fortified wall and walkway. She fiddled with the matches in the dark, her hands trembling. There was a snik of a match catching light, and Radu blinked at the brightness that suddenly illuminated the small room. Once the candle was lit Michelle turned around to see him face to face.

Radu both heard and saw the young woman gasp at finally seeing his appearance in better lighting. She almost dropped the candle when she did.

To Michelle, the vampire was even more shocking than what she had seen before during their first encounter. His skin was unnaturally smooth and pale; ethereal almost, otherworldly. His eye sockets were sunken dark hollows while the gleam of his stare hid inside watching her move with the fixation of a hunter. 

The glint of his fangs was partially from the blood that stained his mouth and down chin. Michelle felt her heart freeze inside her ribcage; the blood could only mean one thing. That he had hunted someone and drank from them. That he had killed someone. This being, this man, radiated a predatory nature that had her warning bells going off like crazy. This creature standing in her room was a hunter of mankind.

“Oh.” whispered Michelle, swallowing the lump in her throat. “Uh...you said you were Strigoi. Or, um, Moroi?”

“Correct,” Radu rasped.  
  
“No, I mean which one are you?”  
  


“You wish for the particulars of myself? I’m surprised you haven’t screamed yet at the sight of me. You are a strange woman,” he said incredulously, shaking his head somewhat. 

“Well, I mean you are pretty--” she gestured to her own face using her whole hand, waving it in a circular motion “--terrifying.” If she wasn’t mistaken Michelle could have sworn the vampire puffed his chest out a bit proudly at that. “But I am interested. Are my terms agreeable for you?” Michelle ventured.

“For now, that may change considering what questions you ask. But perhaps introductions are in order,” Radu swept her a mocking bow. “Allow me to introduce myself: I am Radu Vladislas of Transylvania.”

“ _Vladislas?_ Does that have any ties to the Castle here then?” Michelle asked. _As of the night previous, it is now more than just ties or family names,_ Radu smirked to himself _._ “Indeed. And by what do I call you, Pretty-one?” he asked with interest, taking her much smaller hand in his, aware to be ginger with his talons as he held it in his palm. 

“My name is Michelle. Michelle Morgan--of, uh--America,” Michelle shivered, feeling him run his thumb over the back of it and her knuckles. “Brr, you’re as cold as an ice block!”

_How charming,_ thought Radu raising her hand to his lips. _I will amuse myself with her greatly._ Michelle watched, her eyes as big as dinner plates, as Radu’s cold and bloody lips pressed against her skin in a sticky red kiss. 

“Um, I’m going to need that back.” Michelle nodded towards the claws that still held her notebook. “And my hand--also,” she said, pulling her hand out of his grasp awkwardly. 

“Where is my pet, first?”

As if on cue, the blood-red head of the subspecies popped out from underneath Michelle's pillow. To be fair, and in hindsight, she honestly hadn’t a clue on what to do with the creature once she’d caught it and had stuffed it under there. 

_God help her,_ she thought, _but her life just got more interesting._ “Is it possible for you to write something?” Michelle asked interestedly.

Radu gestured to the notepad she’d taken back. “Of course. My fingers do not hinder my ability to write. If I may?” 

Michelle slid it over and watched as he flipped it open using the points of his claws to an empty page. He took the pencil that had been stuck inside the pages and Michelle watched in fascination as he began to move it about in a graceful fashion. When Radu was done he turned the book back for her to see.

“Radu...Vladislas...wow.” Michelle took the booklet back to study further. _Remarkable, his cursive is so nice._

“I take it you are impressed then?”

She nodded. “Yes, this is--its really--” _beautiful_ “--amazing. So...what’s your story? Any kind of detail like that would be really helpful to know.” Michelle grabbed the chair from the table adjacent to the bed and scootched it over to sit. “Um...do you want to sit, maybe?” she nodded, indicating towards the bed Radu stood next to. 

“I have many ‘ _stories_ ’,” said Radu continuing, taking a seat on the mattress facing her.

“What about your hands? Were you born like this? Is it alright...to touch them?” Michelle asked, her eyes fixed on their length and sharpness. Her own hands reached forward wanting to take one but stayed out of reach waiting to see what he would do. Radu watched her warily, but slowly lifted his own hand and offered it to her for examination. 

“Is this another thing unique to you?” Michelle continued with her questioning, her fingers curling around the strange digits as she brought it closer for a better look in the candlelight.

“Not quite. But..” he tapered off as warm fingertips traced the back of his hand; over the blue lines of his veins that were rivers underneath his white skin. Across his knuckles--one, two, three, and the abnormal fourth that ended in his claws. Michelle turned the vampire’s hand over, palm up, and carefully flexed each of the fingers to curl inward, feeling the tendons and muscle work. She next studied his nails-- talons really from what could be assumed-- they were much thicker than a humans that was for certain. The ends weren’t actually sharp as she saw that they were slightly rounded and ascertained that they could only be weaponized with force and speed.

Radu released a breathy sound from deep in his chest from such an unexpected gentleness this woman was showing him. It caught him almost completely off guard. “They are the longest known by my kind.”

Michelle gave him a look of awe. “Really? That's wild.”

“Wild? Yes.” Michelle felt as he began tracing the back of her hand with his thumbnail again, lightly scratching. Radu had to restrain himself, this woman was more than she initially appeared to be and it fascinated him that she was so bold.

They talked at length for some time until Radu could feel the sun's approach. Holding out his hand to the creature he stood from the bed. “My pet,” The little devil-thing climbed nibley onto Radu’s hand and up his shoulder to perch, watching Michelle with luminous yellow eyes. “I must go now. Perhaps...if you should find your way to the castle tomorrow evening you may find your journal and we could “talk” more.”

Michelle gasped as her notepad was suddenly plucked away from her and disappeared along with Radu as he shadowed away, his rasping laughter echoing along the fortress corridors.

* * *

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

The next morning the girls woke bright and early for even more interviews with the folk of Prejmer. Michelle looked exhausted, dark bags hung under her eyes and she yawned continuously throughout the day. Their last and probably most important interview was with the woman that Mara had talked about the night before.

“Hey you guys, wait up a minute,” Michelle sniffed, her nose running from all the pollen and wild things during their walk in the countryside.

Mara ignored her and continued her jaunt across the field along the edge of the brook they were following “Oh come on, it's just a little bit more up this way.”

“Five interviews in one day, not a bad start hu?” added Lillian. “--and this will be the best one yet. This old woman is very strange apparently from what the locals have said.”

“You said something about her being a--witch or something?” Michelle chimed in, trying to sound like she wasn’t ready to take a nap. Mara nodded, continuing to cut a path towards the cottage they could see now through the brambles and near the end of the brook. When they got to the door Mara was the one to knock. “Just let me do the talking.”

“Fine by me.” Lillian said adjusting her bag over her shoulder. Both she and Michelle waited quietly as the weather-worn old door to the cottage creaked open and an older woman's face peered out at them. Mara made her introductions and gestured to Michelle and Lillian standing behind her. The woman smiled politely and waved for them to enter her home. Once inside, all three girls took in the sights of hanging herbs from the beams of the ceiling, woolen rugs and blankets hanging up against the walls, a small hearth which crackled with fire and several chairs pulled up to it.

All four of them took seats while Lillian brought out her tape recorder and loaded a fresh tape into it for transcribing later on in their dorms. Both Mara and the old woman chatted for a few minutes, exchanging pleasantries before the woman turned in her seat to take something up behind her chair. When she turned back she was wearing a carved wooden mask with branch-like antlers decorated in animal tails and ribbons. The face of the mask was whimsically grotesque, its open mouth and eyes gaping at them.

“Is this the mask you wear to the Festival of the Undead?” Asked Mara after a moment in english. The woman slowly lowered the mask again to reveal her wrinkled face and head covering over her hair.   
  
“It is the likeness of the gypsy...who made a truce with the Vampires. Wear the mask-” she said before leaning forward and putting it on Michelle who in turn looked over at Lillian, wiggling her eyebrows behind the wide eyeholes of the mask and making Lillian crack a grin from the horse-play. “--and I will tell you the story of the gypsy.” The old woman began a retelling of the tale about the vampires who slew the Turkish invaders and saved the lands that Prejmer resided in. Things didn’t go smoothly however and the vampires still craved the blood of the human beings they had protected, rising out of their graves at night to drink from them. Apparently, a gypsy had known of a solution to the problem: the Pope of Rome had a mystical artifact known as the Bloodstone which produced the blood of all the saints. Going on a quest, the gypsy went to Rome, stole the stone, and presented it to the King of the vampires as an alternative means to sustain them without any more bloodshed to the human population.

“....and since that time, no one in Prejmer has been bitten by vampire!” the old woman told them having finished her story. Michelle had taken the mask off at some point while listening intently, letting her mind get lost in the fairy tale elements of the story. “And do you believe that these vampires live in the ruins around here still?” Lillian questioned. 

The old woman’s face closed in, her brow furrowed as if to say _what kind of a question is that?_ “Vampire do not die. They live for many centuries.”

“What about the castle ruins--Castle Vladislas, I mean? Do you think there are any vampires there?” Michelle chimed in, curious.

The woman looked sharply over at her. “Stay away from the ruins. Stay away! You might interfere with the way things are.” Her gaze never wavered as she glared the American woman down with her beady dark eyes. It felt like, to Michelle, that the old Romanian woman was looking right through her and any secrets she might have been withholding were exposed; keeping what had happened to herself the night previous being one of them. The old woman looked quickly over at Mara and switched to her native tongue of Romanian, talking rapidly. Mara responded in what Michelle could only make out as a reassuring tone from her friend. The old woman got up from her chair by the fire and shuffled over to Michelle, taking her hand and turning it over to inspect, the same hand that had been kissed by her night visitor the evening previous. The old Romanian woman nodded to herself and continued speaking more Romanian, stepping away from the circle of chairs that were set up by the hearth and going to one of the walls where some herbs were drying and pulling out a braided rope of garlic bulbs. Once the old woman returned she placed it over Michelle's head and nodded, satisfied.

Mara looked over at Michelle. “She says that you’ve been marked by a vampire and that you should take this and sleep with a cross on,” said Mara translating the last of what the old woman had spoken, her tone skeptical and unsure. “Um...thank you?” Michelle offered, feeling a bit awkward, the pungent smell of garlic wafting around her, making her eyes smart. They left soon after that, the old woman watching the three of them before shutting the door to her hut hard. 

“Well...that was…” Lillian said, about as unsure as the rest of them. 

Mara placed her hand on her friend's arms and led them away “Come on, let's go.” 

“That was weird, right?” Lillian said as the three of them continued their walk back up the creek and away from the old hut. “I mean what she said about vampires still living around these parts and why she singled Michelle out.”

Having heard her name after taking the rope of garlic off her neck Michelle turned to glance over at her other two friends. “Yeah...I can’t imagine why. But hey, if we need more herbs for the kitchen we got some free ones right here,” she said holding up the bulbs and hanging them off to them. Mara and Lillian chuckled, although Mara’s sounded a little tense when she took the rope from Michelle.

“Can you tell us what she was saying about Michelle?” Lillian asked Mara.

“Oh, just some strange things, nothing you need to worry about. The people around here are very rooted in their beliefs and practices, it could just have been that she thought you were trying to meddle and be a nosey tourist,” Mara laughed.

The walk back to the Prejmer Monastery was maybe an hour on foot for them if they continued the way they came originally, Michelle thought, and the sun was already starting to sink lower into the trees of the late afternoon. And she still had to figure a way to get to the castle and get her notebook back from Radu. When Michelle had yelled after him as he’d taken her notes early that morning, both Mara and Lillian had started awake and pounded on her wall to keep it down. Guiltily, she hadn’t mentioned anything to them about what had happened or why she’d been loud enough to wake them, only telling them she’d had a nightmare. It didn’t feel right yet to say anything about it, Michelle knew she probably didn’t have the full picture yet and it would sound crazy either way. But she did have a loose plan in mind. “Hey guys, I almost forgot to say--I have an interview tonight with one of the--one of the locals,” she said clearing her throat.

“What? Wow, that seems pretty quick considering we’ve been here a day or so,” Lillian remarked.

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry if I didn’t mention it until now, but we’ve been busy all day and I didn’t know how to bring it up. I uh, might not make it back until morning,” Michelle said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her “marked” hand. Lillian and Mara exchanged a look between them before Lillian’s face broke into a grin “Ooo, Michelle’s got a hot date with a Romanian!” she exclaimed.

“Are you sure you’ll be ok on your own around here Michelle?” Mara asked gently, touching her friend's arm warily. 

“What?? No, it's not like that! Cut it out you two, jeez,” Michelle chuckled. “I think I’ll be ok, I’ve got my bag and a bottle of mace in it just in case. If I don’t come back in the morning, however...will you guys do me a favor and call some kind of authority?” she bit her lip nervously at the thought that maybe, just maybe, there was the possibility of that happening. She didn’t like the thought but had to be realistic about if she was in over her head which was already pretty far, and most definitely was the moment she knew she’d made up her mind to go. It wasn’t as though she could leave her papers and personal entries behind now, not when her dissertation was so close to being realized. And it wasn’t as though she was going without some kind of protection, she argued to herself.

Both girls nodded. “Yeah, of course,” Lillian said.

  
Mara spoke “Michelle, do think you’re safe going? Do you need one of us to come with?”

“No, I’ll be ok I think. It's probably safer here than any city in America after all. I’d better get going before it gets dark out and I can’t find my way.”

“Well...alright. Just be safe, ok.” Mara and Lillian waved at Michelle before both turned back to their walk to the monastery by themselves. Taking one more glance at her friends' backs as they slowly disappeared along the trail of the creek, Michelle adjusted her shoulder bag and started in the direction of the castle.

The trail was really more of a deer path that wound its way through the underbrush and between steep-looking hills the trees grew on. She was able to navigate her way through alright considering it wasn’t the same footpath the three of them had taken previously to get to the castle. Michelle was relieved when her eyes found the castle’s silhouette as she stepped out of the woods and onto the open field. She didn’t have a watch on, but a glance up at the line of trees and sky suggested it would be sundown soon. Michelle felt her pulse jump at the thought. No turning back, couldn’t if she wanted to. 

* * *

  
  


He sensed her before even waking, felt her heartbeat as the woman drew nearer to the castle though it was faint. It was perhaps the reason Radu woke earlier than usual that evening. Lifting the lid to his casket he sat up stiffly and groaned; although his resting place had worked since arriving at the ruins and after his father's demise, Radu was beginning to think that it was time to find something a bit more accommodating and comfortable.

Once he had returned with the newest of his pets in tow, he’d commanded them to clean up the remains of the king however they saw fit. Rentering the throne room now, he glanced about to see if there was any evidence the old king had once been there on the floor where he’d met his end. There was nothing, not even a trace of blood left behind. His pets had done admirably and feasted well from it. As if sensing their masters' thoughts, the subspecies emerged from the shadows of the throne room, behind the throne itself and the chair by the fireplace that was cold and lifeless, having died down at some point during his rest. Radu felt his veins start to seize under his skin, the ache in his fangs and stomach as his body demanding sustenance.

“Retrieve the Bloodstone for me,” Radu said, waving a hand to the subspecies having given them a command. The horned one, which was the only of the subspecies whom Radu had given a name too, called Lothim, nodded. The rest quickly scrambled across the cobblestone floor making a beeline to the throne before vaulting up onto the seat to reach the hidden lever disguised as an ornate dragon armrest.

Radu stalked his way to the single window of the tower to peer outside over the field that marked the grounds of the castle and separation of the forest beyond. From the color of the sky alone he could see that the sun had only just dipped below the horizon of the mountains, the clouds still pink and hazy on their undersides. His eyes stung from the light even though it was fading. He sensed the approach of his minions and turned his head to look down. Lothim stepped forward; in his hands was the stone brought out from its hidden compartment. Radu’s mouth stretched into a thin red slit as he grinned and leaned down to take it; drool escaping from his mouth as he already imagined the taste of it on his tongue. His fingers curled around the gold base of it, plucking the stone away. 

The cool, smooth surface of the crystal pressed into the palm of his hand, already a touch of warmth began to emanate from within it. Radu turned it upright so that he might gaze at it in the dying light from the window; his reflection grinned back at him, distorted. He had only seen it once before claiming it as his birthright, but that had been centuries ago while he had still been a young knight in service. 

His long fingers curled inwardly, surrounding the precious relic sitting in his palm, half protective, half possessive. It looked so innocent to the naked eye, he mused. And yet both countless men and vampires had slaughtered each other trying to possess it and what it created. But he was the rightful master, and only he would ever drink from the holy vessel. Radu raised it to his lips, not even bothering to wait for a sanguine drop to form at its peak. Tipping his head back he sucked greedily, the wash of red lifesblood--the very essence of saints themselves-- filled his mouth. It was almost like his body was being hit by a powerful wave it was so strong a sensation. He lowered the stone from his mouth, his lips sticky and red. Radu gulped the mouthful he’d taken and felt as his body lost its ache and relaxed, loosen and become unfettered from its cry of starvation. He felt the potency of the blood as it coursed into him, coating the inside of his stomach in fierce heat.

In many ways blood went beyond mere sustenance and was similar to human alcohol; vampires could become blood drunk or intoxicated given the amount they drank. With the Bloodstone, a single drop was more than enough to satisfy a normal vampire, to send them into a swoon. But Radu was no such being, and therefore craved more than just a paltry singular drop. He could drink, and drink, and drink now until he was satiated, though a part of him doubted that would ever happen. His unique biology made some things impossible and he knew the effect of the bloodstone wouldn’t last forever. He would crave and he would hunger always. 

It was a movement from the treeline that caught his attention and broke through the blood-haze, a figure was stepping out from the woods and crossing over the field. Radu leaned out slightly to get a better look. Ah, he thought, the woman--Miss Morgan. He had almost forgotten about the night before. And, he noted, she appeared to be alone. Curious, he’d figured she would have at least brought one of the other women along with her for some sense of protection. Yet she hadn’t. She was either foolish or brave, he concluded. But perhaps, thought Radu, it was another reason he had spared her from his bite that night; she wasn’t like any woman he had encountered before and it fascinated him. She’d kept relatively calm in the face of encountering a true monster of the night, talked with him instead of shrieking in terror and bolting. It had been...refreshing to converse with another being for once without an ulterior motive in mind. 

Radu saw her glance up at the exterior of the castle, searching for a way in no doubt. She was quite comely, he noted, with her dark hair and bright curious eyes. Not quite a classical beauty but attractive in a striking way. She would make an exceptional beauty as a vampiress even. Perhaps...perhaps. Radu retreated from the window.

“It seems that we will be entertaining tonight, my pets,” Radu said, smiling down at the subspecies who in turn gazed up at their master. “Let us go and greet her, shall we?”

* * *

  
  


“What the hell am I doing out here?” Michelle muttered to herself, her voice the only sound aside from the summer crickets chirping around her; it had gotten dark fast, almost as soon as she’d reached the field. Trekking across the clearing and what Michelle could surmise from the ruins as barracks, she’d reached into her shoulder bag to pull out a flashlight before searching for some sort of entrance inside the castle walls. She remembered there was a door somewhere that she, Mara, and Lillian had posed in front of to take commemorative pictures of. If only she could find it again. 

Michelle’s eyes searched the stone exterior of the fortress for some sign that was familiar from the last time she had been there. She noticed that the tallest tower of the caste sported a singular window that appeared to have some source of light emanating from within. And--she was sure of it--there had been a face peering out of it and down at her. Michelle had blinked a few times and the face in the window disappeared. However, the brief sighting only cemented her hunch that the castle was indeed occupied by none other than the vampire she’d interacted with the night before, Radu Vladislas. 

She quickened her pace and soon was finally at the foundation of the fortress ruins; looking up at the darkening sky Michelle saw the first stars and switched her flashlight on. She kept the stone wall to her right as she began to trudge through the overgrown underbrush and weeds, navigating across the terrain and around to what she assumed was the door she’d seen before. Finally, after slipping down between two sharp slopes covered in several inches of dead leaves, Michelle came to the old door still covered in spiderwebs and slightly off its ancient rusting hinges. But she’d been right about the light from the window: there was more light coming through the cracks in the door. Michelle pocketed the flashlight in her shoulder bag. “There’s got to be some way to open it,” she thought aloud to herself 

_Maybe_ \--she thought-- _there’s enough of a gap in the doorway--maybe I can push it open._ Rolling the sleeve of her denim coat up, Michelle reached through the gap in the door. Pushing against it she dug her heels into the dirt and pressed her shoulder against the wood while simultaneously fumbling with the door on the inside. She had to give vampires credit, they really took home security seriously. Michelle’s fingers found purchase on something metallic and began to tug hoping it would loosen anything connected to the door. 

Something jabbed against her palm, sharp and sudden. Michelle cursed and pulled her arm out of the gap to see what had happened to her hand. Looking down at it in the gloom of the woods she could see a thin trickle of blood where her palm had been sliced open. 

“Damnit, thats just great. The last thing I need is to get tetanus from a rusty old nail while I’m here. Shit…” The wound started to throb. She’d just have to deal with it for now until she could get back to the monastery and bandage it up. _At the very least_ , Michelle thought, _I should try to keep it as clean as I can_. Luckily, she’d stuffed some tissues in her pocket earlier. Pulling one out she began to doctor her palm, her mind much more focused on her hand than the fact the door to the castle was being pulled open from the inside behind her.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of such company tonight?”

Michelle shrieked, nearly jumping out of her skin at the sound of a familiar guttural voice behind her. Spinning around she saw Radu standing in the now open doorway, wearing his usual dark vest and black duster she’d seen him in the night before. Blood dribbled down his chin as he smirked, his fangs protruding over his lower lip as he grinned in his usual way at her. A shiver ran down Michelle’s spine at the sight of it, and at the sight of him; his presence was continuously intimidating to be around. Even from just looking him over Michelle’s brain was urging her to turn and run all the way back to the fortress. But on the other hand, her gut told her to stay, to be calm yet stay alert in this exchange between them both. 

“I--um--yes. I mean--hi. I’m here,” she stuttered. 

“Indeed you are.” Radu stepped away from the doorway and closer to where she was standing, his movements slow and methodical as he started circling her. His boots crunched and crackled in the dry bed of leaves as he rounded Michelle, examining and assessing her in a manner that was very akin to a hunter sizing up the prey. Not wanting to lose sight of him she turned around in a slow circle to follow the way he stalked about. She remembered hearing something about how one should never turn your back to a wild animal if they seemed like they would attack and to never break eye contact 

Radu’s nostrils twitched at the scent of freshly drawn blood coming off of Michelle. He stopped in front of her, satisfied in whatever it was he’d been examining. His eyes dropped to her injured hand; Michelle still held the tissues to her palm. When she noticed him looking pointedly down at it she tried hiding it behind her back but one of his hands wrapped around her wrist before she could and at such a speed that there wasn’t enough time to react. The muscles in her arm tensed out of reflex, trying to resist. Radu’s grip was fierce but not unbearable save for the cold temperature of his skin to Michelle’s own warmth in contrast. She noticed, as he turned her wrist upright, that his fingers were so long that they overlapped the muscle below his thumb and the edge of his coat. With his other hand, Radu pointed to her closed fist with a claw, tapping against her fingers lightly.

“What is this?” he asked.

“It's just a cut--I tried getting the door open and scratched my hand--it's nothing, really,” replied Michelle trying to brush it off.

“Then you won’t mind me seeing it.”

“It's not--” she protested but was cut short by Radu speaking again. “You fear that I will bite you. Does my promise mean so little to you?” Radu accused.

Michelle swallowed thickly. “How do I know I can trust you to keep your promise and not do that?”

“There is no need. But if you will let me, I would clean the wound else it will fester and become infected. Consider it part of your research...”

Tentatively, Michelle opened her fingers and let her arm muscles relax somewhat. Radu’s grasp in her wrist loosened and he plucked the tissue away; the cut wasn't deep and the blood had stopped running, now sluggish and sticky. He tested the edges of the wound carefully with the tip of his index claw before bending his head down. 

Michelle had thought he was merely getting a closer look as he stooped over her palm until she felt something cold and wet prob at it, realizing he was licking the cut and flinching at the texture of his tongue. She sucked a hitching breath down into her lungs while her head spun woozily. The pain and throbbing she’d felt dissolving into a numbness followed by warmth spreading up the rest of her arm and everywhere else in her body. Radu lifted his head, eyes slowly locking onto Michelle’s as he continued laving her palm. There was something darkly sensual about it, his mouth open, fangs bared sharp and wicked, his crimson tongue dipping and curling against Michelle's skin. She felt the warmth seep into her core.

The tang of her blood was different from the silken taste of the bloodstone that lingered still, Radu noted. But they both shared one thing in common; the taste of purity, of goodness uncorrupted. It was a faint thing compared to the intensity of the stones’ and yet amidst the flavor, Radu’s mind began to pick up subtle things that her blood carried with it, unique impressions that only human beings had. Of her home in a place where a great bridge stretched across churning waters, of a home and family that were encompassing Michelle in love through the years and various hardships, of a sister, who though younger than her was her equal in peers. There was an undercurrent of the fascination with the strange and forgotten, the fascinating and macabre. Of his kind. The curiosity Michelle had felt overpowering her natural fear upon meeting him for the first time. When Radu drank from other humans it was usually spiked by fear, potent and sour. Michelle’s blood tasted...almost sweet. He longed to get a deeper taste of her.

Radu leaned back, forcing himself away from her hand. His tongue retracted back into his mouth once again, her blood replacing the taste of the bloodstones for the time being. He saw the faint flush to her cheeks as he stood upright. The distant torchlight behind him reflected in her dark eyes, the pupils blown wide making them appear much deeper. Pressing the tissue he’d held back into the palm of her hand he stepped back from her.

“There...it should heal now in a day'a time, do not fuss with it,” he uttered. Whatever spell had entranced Michelle broke at the sound of Radu’s guttural voice and she blinked. “Uh...thank you?” her response was barely a whisper.

It was then Radu remembered the reason she was there to begin with. “Perhaps...you would like to come in?” and extended an arm to the doorway, spidery fingers spread in a welcoming gesture; as welcoming as he could remember when offering entrance into his personal space. He didn’t receive many guests willingly he mused, even when living in the Necropolis there hadn’t been more than a handful who had seen his inner sanctuary before. Now though, it felt out of place and a bit awkward for him to say those words. Michelle could only nod, her head still spinning and fuzzy, and she let him lead her inside with a clawed hand on the small of her back to guide her.


	3. Chapter 3

The inside of the Vladislas castle was what Michelle had imagined it might look like after centuries of neglect: decrepit and now a home for spiders more than actual inhabitants. Yet somehow there still was one resident that occupied the ruins who was apparently giving her a tour of the interior. 

“Could--could you tell me more about this area we’re in?” Michelle ventured.

Radu gestured slightly to several empty cells. Along the stone brickwork chains hung ending in manacles meant to restrain prisoners' wrists while they awaited their sentences. “It is the dungeons. The last sight many prisoners have seen here were the bars and manacles that held them.”

He went on to explain as they continued further into the castle that the Turks which had tried to invade Romania in the 1400’s had even set their sights on overtaking the castle and failed only for their last days to be spent in said dungeons.

“--but I doubt you’ve come here to listen to a history lesson,” Radu said, the palm of his hand against Michelles back pressing her to follow him up several flights of stairs from the dungeons and into the nexus work of corridors that made up the castle interior. 

“Actually I think it's fascinating and insightful to be hearing more about this place, and from someone who’s lived in it for some time,” Michelle told him. Radu laughed sarcastically. 

“I fear you’ll be disappointed to learn then that I have not lived here for many centuries and only recently reclaimed it as my own. This is-- _was_ \--my fathers' castle. But he is no more.”

Michelle blanched.“Oh...I apologize then, I didn’t know,” she said.

“How would you have?" Radu inquired, "The castle isn’t talked about by the peasants, they fear to do so would bring great ruin onto them. And they are right.”

Michelle remembered trying to find more information from the locals while interviewing but had only gotten suspicious stares from the people of Prejmer and tight lips. “You know I noticed that there weren’t any references about Castle Vladislas in any of the historical documents I read or even on any maps of the region. I wondered how something so old and imposing could still end up being almost invisible.”

He nodded. “There are things spoken of and then there are things left unspoken for good reasons. Luckily the memory of this place's existence is still fresh in their minds.”

“I also meant what I said about your father as well, I’m sorry he’s gone,” she added trying to sound sympathetic.

Radu snorted. “Don’t be, I am not. He was a fool and a hypocrite.”

Michelle was silent. She had a good relationship with both of her parents, so the notion of hating either her mom or dad was completely foreign to her. Growing up with a younger sister of course had its typical rough patches in their parenting, but no parent was perfect either. 

Lit torches illuminated the gloomy interior as they both entered the throne room from one of the side corridors. _Probably meant for servants and those who'd worked here once,_ Michelle thought. Michelle observed the walls around her in awe; there were tapestries she could easily spot as the medieval period, several spears and halberds leaned against a wall rusting away and forgotten, and a sizable fireplace that was unlit. Above it, she noticed what looked like the Vladislas family crest in gold and red patterns. Radu’s hand on the small of her back disappeared as he stalked over to the cold fireplace and stooped over the charcoal and ash resting there. Michelle watched Radu stare into the fireplace, becoming more fixated on one spot that suddenly began to smolder and crackle. A second later and a flame burst to life in a puff of smoke without the aid of a match; he stood again, groaning slightly and fetched another log near the grate before throwing it onto the newly birthed flame of the fire. Turning, Radu smugly looked at Michelle as if asking what she thought about what just happened. 

“Wha--what was that?”

“Magic. A simple trick really,” Although his smug tone suggested it wasn’t.

“Simple? I couldn’t do that on my own, at least not without a lighter, that was amazing,” she said impressed.

The corner of Radu's mouth twitched. “A part of my heritage I take pride in.” 

“So not only are you a vampire then but you can do magic? Does that mean every vampire can do magic then?”

“Not all can. Perhaps my inclination for such talents comes from my...unique background.” Radu brought forth the journal he’d stolen from her the night previous from within the folds of his jacket. “Here, your notes.” He extended his claws out to her, waiting. Gingerly Michelle reached out, half expecting him to snatch it back the way he’d done before with her. But Radu merely grinned toothily at Michelle, a smear of red down his chin from whatever she assumed he had drunk from--or who. Her hand closed over the binding and she took it back from him. _Simple as that then?_ It couldn’t be. But she watched as he relaxed his arm and take a step away from her. “I...I have so many questions. I don’t really know where to start--we talked a little the night before about what happened with the Turks that tried to invade and the Prejmer fortress but you haven't mentioned much about yourself personally. Which I find hard to believe,” said Michelle.

Radu, meanwhile, had meandered away and up the stairs to lower himself onto the throne, an old and ornate chair with dragon armrests and tattered red silk trappings. From the shadows around the throne room, Michelle noticed familiar-looking red figures akin to what she’d encountered the night previous. As they approached Michelle she quickly scrambled up onto the chair by the fireplace in a comical parody of how some women try to get away from mice by climbing onto the furniture.

“Uh--shoo! Go away--what are they?--what do they want?!” she yelled. 

“Be not afraid of my little pets, they are merely curious as to why a human is here, not something they are used to unless it involves food. Stand down, she is of no danger to us,” He told the subspecies. The little red creatures backed off at the sound of their masters' command, slinking back into the shadows to watch from a safe distance. Radu watched bemused as Michelle slid back into the seat of the chair, her knees pulled up to her chest, warily watching the subspecies until each had moved far enough back to her liking.

Michelle opened her notebook a little shakely. “Ok...ok...uh, maybe you could try and explain them then. I did wonder what happened to that one from last night but I never thought there’d be more than just the one.”

“They are my pets. Artificially created constructs born from dark magics and my own flesh and blood.” As Radu said this he looked towards one that had crept closer to the throne he sat on, a twisted tenderness visible on his face as he smiled down at the creature. 

“Like--like a homunculus?” asked Michelle, already flipping her notes open to a blank page, her pencil at the ready.

His eyes lit up in recognition. “Indeed, very much so. However the process to create them is...well perhaps a demonstration would explain it better than I could. Observe.” Radu held up his hand to show her, fingers splayed out, spidery, long and thin. To her horror, Michelle watched as he proceeded to break the tip of his index finger off with his other hand; a sickening crack of bones breaking echoed through the empty cavern of the throne room like the splitting of dry kindling. Radu hissed in pain while holding the bloody stump of his finger while watching as his fingertip landed onto the floor, rolled down the stairs, and stopped at the base. 

“Watch,” he insisted to Michelle before glancing down at the severed fingertip on the floor watching as it twitched and began to wriggle on its own. Michelle felt her stomach lurch yet watched on as she was told; the blood from his fingertip began to pool and bubble. Suddenly it began to retract, the broken off finger becoming larger and more defined in shape like how an embryo would develop. A moment later and its form had grown limbs and a head, dark red skin and glowing yellow eyes. Another moment passed and it stood from the floor looking around the room and then up at its master as if it instinctively knew who had created it. Radu grinned down at his newest creation, bending forward from the throne to pick it up; already the severed end to his index finger had regrown within the same span of time it had taken for the subspecies to be created.

“As you can see it is a process all its own.”

“At least it isn’t you having to inject a cow with some of your--you know what never mind. That still looked painful. And...gross. No offense,” she added quickly, still nauseated.

Radu shrugged a shoulder, attempting nonchalant. “None taken, it is what it is. And believe me when I say that it is painful. But the results are staggering,” he replied before setting the creature back down onto the stone floor to mingle with its brethren. “Now a question in turn pretty-one: tell me about the sciences humanity has learned, I crave to see what stepping stones have been made.”

She made several quick notes before looking back at him. “Well, that depends on how far back you’re talking. Where do you want me to start, there’s really a lot of ground to cover and I’ll try my best. Just keep in mind I major in Medieval History and I’m not a biologist or anything.” 

Radu’s eyes rolled up to the ceiling, his head cocked to the side appearing to be deep in thought for a moment. “Hmm...the last advancement of that nature I heard of was of someone called Gregor Mendel, working on some theory of his about passing on certain traits in offspring.”

Michelle’s brow furrowed, confused. “But--that's the Theory of Genetics and Hereditary. He discovered that back in...at least the mid-eighteen hundreds.” 

“Ah, then I had my timing correct then.”

Michelle was taken aback. “Just a second, h--how long have you been alive??”

“Very long. Although I do not have the exact date in mind I can tell you that I was born sometime late in the thirteenth century or perhaps even early fourteenth,” he replied. 

“That's almost a thousand years…” Michelle whispered, having done the math quickly in her head.

When Radu spoke it almost sounded tired. “Indeed.”

“I--I guess I didn’t realize when you told me about the war here that you’d been there in person back then. That's...mind-blowing.” 

“But back to the question at hand. What can you tell me about the sciences?”

Michelle, now that she had a timeframe in mind to go off of, went on to explain the various scientific highlights from the eighteenth century and onward. There really was too much to cover in one session so she glossed over some and stuck to the larger ones she’d learned about through her time in college. She may have been a history major but still tried to pay some attention to other areas of education outside of her field. Radu meanwhile nodded now and then indicating he was continuing to listen, all the while watching Michelle from his place on the throne.

It had been such a long time since he had had the pleasure of simply communicating with another being that could keep up with him, yet still, it felt somewhat tiresome. He was unused to this sort of attention. Their conversation had flown smoothly even with the knowledge of what he was and her own fears during their first encounter, he thought. This woman was full of more surprises each time they interacted; she was brave, scholarly, not to mention physically attractive. True, there had been companions in his past with the same qualities as Miss Morgan but inevitably they had melted away soon enough to show the shallow nature that was laying underneath as always. Eternity it seemed, was very much skin deep.

In truth, Radu had perhaps grown lonely in his years of isolation away from his ancestral place of birth even though he’d always preferred to walk his own path without the hindrance of others or any ties that would keep him back from his personal quest for vengeance against his father. To be a monster meant embracing such loneliness as it came with the territory but still there were times over the centuries he had buckled in such a state and created fledglings, so sure that they would need and depend on him to survive. Ash had been one such instance, although in retrospect Radu considered it a poor decision on his part; his fledgling though cunning was also prone to double-dealing whenever it would elevate his own status, a result that had cost Radu an entire city. Perhaps, thought Radu musing to himself, he would journey to Bucharest soon and reclaim his city from out under the control of Ash. All in good time.

“--um, Mr. Vladislas?” Michelle’s voice broke through his concentration. Radu blinked.

“Excuse me, I was merely resting… It has been ages since I have conversed like this. It is somewhat...tiring….what were you saying?” he questioned. 

“I’d asked what it was about the theory of genetics and heredity that you were so interested in?” she asked him.

“Ah, yes. Well...as I had mentioned before I am not like other vampires. My magical abilities are much stronger as you’ve witnessed, a trait passed along from my mother,” explained Radu.

“Your mother…? Ok hold on, before you say anything else maybe...maybe could you tell me a little bit about your family, your heritage, anything like that. Tell me who you are.”

“I...suppose.” Radu sighed, shifting on the throne seat, visibly uncomfortable. “Very well, I will start from the beginning then,” he relented. “The castle you see around was once my fathers, King Vlad of Transylvania, ruler of all vampires on this continent, though he is no more and the mantle of power has shifted to me...I was his firstborn, his true heir and yet he discarded me early on alongside my mother, a powerful sorceress and not like him. There are several folk tales in fact that contradict each other on what the relationship was like between her and him. Some say she seduced him, others tell that he seduced her.”

“In truth--” Radu continued “--the castle and the surrounding lands were stolen by him from my mother's family which used to occupy this place. He drove most of them out and killed the rest who chose to fight him aside from my mother who he took as his consort; whether she stayed on her own volition or was forced to is a mystery even I do not know. Regardless, in time she conceived me. My father however was not pleased at the prospect of having a half monster child with unkempt powers running about and banished my mother away from these lands on pain of death should she ever return after my birth. I was given away in secret to a sect of monks, far away from Romania where I wouldn’t cause my father any political problems or try and take over his position. I had no knowledge of his farce or my true title as a prince until much later on in my life.”

“My god…” Michelle whispered, shocked at how callus and cold his father sounded.

“My childhood was spent learning to read and write from the manuscripts the monks kept. There were other castaway children they had taken into their fold, though it was not from altruistic measures. We were to be trained in the combat and destruction of monsters the Vatican had declared unclean in the eyes of God.”  
  
“So, basically you were a monster hunter,” said Michelle.

“Yes, and I was their most prized champion. With my magical inclinations and enhanced senses, I became a formidable force in battle, cutting down horde after horde of creatures until the very earth was red beneath my feet.” Radu proudly exclaimed, his voice almost going above his usual rasp.

“But growing up--it couldn’t have been easy like that,” Michelle said, steering the conversation back on track. She watched as his slight frame visibly deflated several fractions, shoulders slumping enough to be noticeable. “It was not. I was different from the other children that lived there in the monastery and shunned because of my nature... I learned to fight for myself else a bully or rival overtake me, I learned to be quiet when traversing the hallways at night. But I learned, most importantly, to keep to myself.”

“Did you have anyone that cared for you? There must have been someone that took care of you from infancy onward,” Michelle asked, trying to ignore her heart squeezing inside her chest at the thought of a child going unwanted completely. 

“There was one...a monk by the name of Martin who taught me to read and write. In many ways I consider him more of a father than my own sire ever was. And by the time I was a young man and had become a slayer of monsters, Martin was in his last years. Before he passed on, he revealed to me the details of my birth--of my parentage--and encouraged me to find the king and my mother once again. To have some sort of closure.”

“But--I mean, are you still only half-vampire?” Michelle questioned him, uncertain. 

Radu sneered, growling “Hardly. I am fully-fledged and have been since my adulthood, though the story of my turning is something I would rather _not_ go into.”

Michelle gave Radu a curt nod in understanding before venturing warily forward with this interview she’d found herself conducting. “I--is it true then that...that vampires need to drink blood to live?” 

“Yeeeess…” Radu hissed, his mouth watering at the thought of a fresh gush of it pouring over his tongue and down his throat. “A bone of contention between my father and I. He was hypocritical as I came to find out once I finally met him as an adult; he believed that our kind should make peace and try to coexist with humanity and yet he had killed hundreds upon hundreds of people in the ages past to quench his own thirst. I believed that we should live unrestrained: we are monsters and humans are food. We are meant to feed on them, it is our purpose.” Radu saw her flinch, heard her heart jumping into her throat as he’d said this.

“But I was...I was told by one of the locals in Prejmer a folktale that ties into the Festival of the Undead here, about the king--your father--having some sort of sacred relic that allowed the people to remain safe from vampires. That it dripped the blood of saints…” Michelle tapered off. 

“The Bloodstone….” Radu’s voice dragged out. A bit of saliva escaped the corner of his mouth which he wiped away with the edge of his sleeve, aware that Michelle was watching him as he did. Normally he didn’t bother to clean his face after feeding but for some reason it unkempt and messy while in her presence. He made an attempt to blot the rest of his mouth and chin with his sleeve for good measure in hindsight. 

“So it's not just a legend then.” Michelle refrained from asking to see it, feeling that she was already treading outside the tentative boundry between herself and this creature of the night. Radu was a killer, he hunted humans and the thought was enough to send a cold shiver down Michelle’s spine once again. But, looking at this with an analytical mindset of a researcher, she also knew that Radu was not a human and therefore could not apply the same rules or morals one would to a human that had killed another human. She didn’t like it, the thought that he had killed and would kill again, but he was also doing what his nature dictated him to do to survive. Vampires needed blood to sustain themselves; she wouldn’t fault a wolf for killing a deer simply because she hated the thought of it dying. It just was the way nature had created them to be. However, that still didn’t dismiss the fact that humans had fallen to Radu to sustain him. She at least appreciated his candor, disturbing as it was.

“You fear me, don’t you?” Radu asked in a hushed tone, his voice dropping its graveness. Michelle locked eyes with him from across the throne room and gingerly nodded, feeling slightly ashamed that she’d revealed her own fears to him.

Radu leaned forward on the throne. His elbows rested on the armrests while he interlocked his fingers together before resting his chin on them, staring at Michelle, contemplating.

“If it is any consolation...it has never been my intention to frighten you,” he said. Michelle on the other hand knew better and gave him a pointed look. 

“Well...perhaps a little,” Radu admitted “But you are….far too intriguing for me to go back on my word. Though perhaps a healthy dose of fear is good to have in the company of one such as I...because I _am_ a monster.”

A dense silence filled the air between both the vampire and the human woman for what felt like hours stretching into years. The only sounds were from the fire occasionally crackling in the massive hearth beside Michelle’s chair while outside the window of the throne room's tower the stars had shifted in the sky; Michelle wasn’t even sure what time it was other than very late in the evening. _Time feels so different here compared to America,_ she wistfully thought. It felt slower than dripping molasses at times and yet everything between herself and Radu had happened so fast-- _maybe too fast?_ \-- and no one would believe her if she told them about her crazy misadventure in Romanian anyway. Not Lillian--she didn’t dare think Mara would want to believe it--but here she was, Michelle Morgan, an amature historian, speaking to an ageless being the likes of which had been labeled as Strigoi--Moroi--Nosferatu... _a true vampire_. 

“Are you a maiden my dear?”

Michelle’s head quickly turned back to Radu who’d continued his observation of her. The question was _so_ surprising and _so_ out of the blue that it took a few moments for her mind to register what he’d asked. 

“What?” she croaked out.

“I asked if you were a maiden still, or perhaps you need simpler terms. Are you a vir--”

“Wha--no! NO. No. I’m not--I’m not a “maiden” or anything else like that. I haven't been for a while,” Michelle laughed to herself nervously, her nerves a bit frayed. “That was--why did you--?”

“Your blood, even from just the barest taste I can gauge the essence of your soul…its sweetness...its purity. And yet you have had some...experience.”

“You got all of that just from licking that cut on my palm...” She wondered what else Radu had picked up from just tasting the wound. The warmth she’d felt when he’d done it had returned and it settled lower in her belly like how the heat from those swigs of the Romanian wine had burned down into her stomach. It wasn’t unpleasant. _Dear god, she thought, I must be crazy! I’m getting excited just from a stranger licking a cut on my hand. And he isn’t exactly_ … Michelle glanced quickly from the corner of her eyes back to Radu on the throne who was thankfully occupied by watching two of the subspecies that had slunk from the shadows and in front of the throne. _He isn’t exactly what one would call handsome._

But there was something open about his face, the way he watched things with his eyes that was transparent; his expressions that were almost...human and so contradictory to what he was.

“Did you ever...uh….with a human before?” questioned Michelle gingerly. 

Radu sat back on the throne, his attention returning to Michelle. “There were a few times in my youth. But it was usually through transactions.”

“Oh. I see…” Michelle muttered.

“Perhaps you should...consider “ _experimenting_ ” for the sake of your research,” Radu offered. 

“...what?” her voice squeeked. 

“I have been told I am very good as a partner,” he continued casually.

Michelle stared. “You're telling me that--but I thought you said--when you were younger?”

“What, did you think I only ever took lovers in my youth?” Radu laughed dryly. “Or is it because of my _“good looks”_?” Michelle saw the sneer on his lips, and his brow creased further as he glared slightly. She couldn’t deny that Radu was very much the picture of a horror-film ghoul with his dark sunken eyes, fangs, pale skin, and claws. But the more they interacted the more things about him she noticed. His eyes, for one, were soulful. There was so much expression in them whenever they both discussed history or from the hints he dropped about his past, they would soften and the harshness of his features would as well. 

“I’m not going to feed into that,” Michelle said finally, choosing instead to glance back down at her notes and avoid what he’d said. _He’s really crass_ , she thought, _No warning about it--just outright asked if she was interested in getting..._ **_physical,_ ** _like it was the most casual thing to do._

“Oh don’t be so modest. Those entries I happened to glance over were quite--how should I say--insightful to say the least,” Radu’s voice dropped. “Consider that this type of arrangement might even be beneficial for us both.”

“Oh my g--you’re serious?!” she squawked. 

“Of course. I admit it may have been some time since last I lay with another, but being in such close proximity to one so lovely as yourself has piqued my interest once again.”

_He_ **_is_ ** _! He’s absolutely serious about this,_ Michelle mentally screamed.

However, if she thought of it in terms of research, Radu was technically right. This would be a golden opportunity being offered to study further into the vampire myths and legends, only bringing it further into the realm of science. How would vampiric biology differ from that of humans? And...well...Michelle knew there was a part of her that was deeply interested in finding out. She _was_ curious. 

Radu’s eyes zeroed in as she bit her lower lip, an action that stirred his interest further. “Um...what would you say if I did agree to all this?” Michelle ran a hand through her hair, mussing up her short locks; she still couldn’t look Radu in the eyes when she said it, feeling flustered and hot in the face. He grinned smugly at her, showing off his fangs in the torchlight. 

“I would be most honored to be a part of your _“research”_.” Radu stood from the throne and descended the stairs towards Michelle. 

“But one last thing!” she said hastily, moving to stand. “Don’t...please don’t...bite or drink from me.”

Radu stopped in front of Michelle, his lip curled back into a familiar sneer and face clouding over. “You would dare presume to tell a vampire its business?” he glowered. No one had _ever_ told him to not bite them on purpose, not even while begging for him to spare their lives! She was bold, he'd give her that.

Michelle though was very adamant and continued. “I--yes! Listen, I don’t want to be a...a vampire. I have responsibilities, I can’t just leave all of that behind, not now when I’m so close to getting my dissertation published because of why I’m here. Please...it’s the last thing I’ll ask of you,” Michelle’s brow creased fretfully as she gazed into Radu’s eyes. _Hu_ , she thought, _I never noticed that they’re so blue._

“You’ve already asked so much of me... perhaps it's time I take what I want for once,” Radu warned before ducking his head down suddenly, closing in on her. Michelle squeezed her eyes shut, inhaling sharply, waiting for the inevitable brutality of a bite. Instead, something cold and smooth pressed against her forehead quickly moving down to her eyebrow and brushing against her cheekbone. 

_He’s kissing my face_! When she realized it was his lips she relaxed into the touch a bit more and releasing her tension with a breathy sigh, tipping her head back slightly, and felt his hand cradle the nape of her neck, long cold fingers scratching lightly against her scalp. Radu’s lips skimmed over her cheek, nuzzling against her warm skin and feeling the softness of it against his own lips.

_No woman alive had ever allowed him to touch them like this,_ he mused. Most human women he’d come across in the hunt of course would scream at the sight of him and run, or sob, begging for their lives or other things to be spared. Vampire women however, were much freer with who they chose to amuse themselves with in comparison. Radu himself could recall a few good memories of nights spent in the arms of a lovely vampiress or two. But that was all it had ever been, something quick and fleeting, an amusement to pass the time and take the edge off.

Michelle's head fell to the side as Radu’s cool lips ghosted over her jaw, soft sounds of pleasure from them both were the only sounds in the room of the castle. Her hands found his torso and held on to steady her wobbly legs. Radu however felt her stiffen slightly under him as his lips ghosted down over her neck; there was a moment where he felt the desire rise to plunge his fangs into her soft skin, but he pushed it aside and instead focused on sucking greedily at her pulse, feeling it jump under the flat of his tongue.

She sighed in his arms again, her body trembled as her hands slid up to grip at Radu’s shoulders tightly to keep from falling backwards. Under her, her legs were starting to feel like more and mroe jelly the longer he kept kissing her like that. Radu’s mouth skimmed along the collar of her sweater, trying to mark every inch of skin he came across before licking a chilly line up the side of her neck until his lips were just barely touching the shell of her ear. “Your skin is burning with life. I would have more of it if you removed this,” he said plucking at her sweater between two of his claws. 

Her throat was dry and clicked when she tried to swallow. “You want me to take this off?” 

“Indeed,” Radu answered.

Michelle released her hold on the leather of his coat, her fingers still trembling slightly. She stripped her sweater and shirt off together leaving her in only her jeans and bra. The castle was chilly even with a fire going in the great hall, and she felt her nipples pebbling against the fabric.

Radu could only stare at the vision before him, of her soft creamy skin and the swell of her breasts in the scant lace garment that covered them. He reached out, claws plucked at one of the straps in interest. “What is this?”

“Its a bra. Women wear them too...well it's to keep these in place, for the most part,” her mind struggled to come up with a better answer. She could have told him it was to also look more provocative but figured he was starting to get the idea himself. Michelle watched with hazy eyes as the hand he’s had at her bra strap traveled downward, his sharp nails scratching lightly enough to give her goosebumps but not to draw blood. Radu drew Michelle to him once again with his other hand on the small of her back.

“Such beauty…” he said huskily, looking intensely into Michelle's brown eyes. “I cannot wait to see you come apart in my arms as I have you.” 

Michele felt her face burn. There wasn’t anything explicit in his words yet they were still evocative. An image of them flashed in her mind where they were naked and tangled together, all limbs and legs, claws and fangs. It made her molten between her legs and felt herself squeeze her thighs together. 

Radu spoke low into her ear again. “I take it you enjoy the thought as well?” He hooked his claws underneath the strap of her right shoulder and pulled it downward before running the pads of his fingers over her skin. His hand continued its journey, claws scratching lightly over her collarbone and sternum before pushing the other strap of her bra down over her shoulder, relishing the contact of skin to skin. Radu bent his head and continued where his mouth had left off at the side of Michelle's neck, licking and kissing as much as he could. He felt ravenous, the Bloodstone’s ichor singing in his veins while a human heartbeat drummed in his ears; a sweet delirium. He could feel himself harden further, the fabric of his trousers confining and becoming more and more uncomfortable to ignore. _This woman he had under his touch, a human no less, had no idea how much she was making him ache._

Michelle made a soft moan of pleasure at the back of her throat. The kisses he peppered her skin with left chilly brands in their wake. “Y--you certainly have a way w--with words,” she managed to say, her tongue fumbling to work through the haze of sensation.

Without warning, Radu stopped his kissing and pulled Michelle flush against him. A strange sensation prickled all over her skin as they shadowed out of the throne room, through the empty corridors of the castle, and into what must have been a lavish bed chamber once. They both rematerialized beside the bed.

“It may not be the most comfortable--,” he told her, setting her down on the aged mattress, dust motes wafting up. “--but for what we plan to do, it will work.” 

“Uh--condoms!” she cried out suddenly. Radu stood back, looking very confused. “Pardon?”

“I--in my backpack. We need protection.”

“You seek protection though you came into my arms willingly?” there was an edge in his voice of confused indignation. Michelle licked her lips before continuing, “No-- I do want this-- but I don’t think it would be wise to continue without some...contraceptive measures, if you know what I mean.” 

Radu paused, staring down at her and processing. “Your ‘backpack’ you said?” He asked before shadowing away. For the first time since they started, Michelle caught her breath, inhaling and exhaling several times until she managed to calm down. Quickly she stripped out of her bra and jeans, kicking them off to the side of the bed; didn’t want all of her clothes ruined by those claws. Her skin prickled from the night air and she folded her arms over herself, trying not to shiver. 

A moment later and Radu’s shadow appeared in the room again, rematerializing with her backpack before he noticed her state of undress. Whatever might have fouled his mood was gone from his mind upon seeing her, and he grinned lecherously. 

“Well, well, eager aren’t we?” 

Michelle blanched. “Yeah...I didn’t want you to rip my bra trying to get it off, those clasps can be a pain in the ass.” 

Radu nodded though he had no idea what Michelle was talking about. “Noted. Now--” he tossed the backpack towards her. “--retrieve what you need and let us continue.” Michelle unzipped the bag, reaching her hand in searching until her fingertips felt the foil of the packet. She pulled it out triumphantly and showed him, setting the bag aside on the floor. Michelle however saw that his eyes appeared fixed on her and looked down, realizing then that she’d uncovered herself on going through her belongings. 

A thin line of saliva escaped the corner of his mouth, and Radu preened his fangs staring down at Michelle's body. Her breasts were round and soft, nipples tight and pink from the cold air of the castle and beckoning to him. For vampires, on a primal level, seeing a woman bare and exposed was maddeningly erotic and served to fuel their thirst even further, a perverse reaction to their very nature. Remembering himself though, Radu took a deep breath through his nose, letting his eyelids slip closed halfway. All in good time, he told himself. Some self control tonight would yeild greater pleasures. 

  
  
“I can smell your desire pretty-one,” he whispered.

Michelle was pulled from the bed by her arms and spun around, feeling something hard press against the crease of her buttocks. “Oh my…” 

From behind her, Radu cackled softly and ground against her a few times, feeling his cock twitch from the friction as he rocked his hips. His claws hooked into the waistband of her undergarments and shredded through the cotton of her panties a moment later, tearing them to ribbon and left to be forgotten on the threadbare carpet next to the bed.

Michelle gave a startled cry and instinctively moved to cover herself though Radu’s hands were much faster, darting out grasping her wrists in a firm cold grip restraining her.

“Ah ah ah, none of that now,” he chided. One hand released its hold and came to rest on the swell of her left hip, then caressed up Michelle's waist, past her ribs, until he was cupping her breast in his cold palm. _How warm_ he thought _, how soft she is_. He could feel the thrumming of her heart inside of her body as it pulsed in excitement and fear, her arousal an intoxicating perfume that drowned out anything else to him in that moment. Radu felt her gasp when his thumb encircled her nipple, nail scratching lightly, his face leering over her shoulder watching as it peaked and tightening from the attention. Tonight he had no desire to spoil this, and instead curled his claws away from such delicate flesh and switched to using the side of his index finger and thumb to pull and tweak it. 

Michelle moaned weakly. She’d never felt so excited before, not even with her past boyfriends, and throbbed with each twist and pull he gave her breast. The grip on her right wrist relaxed as he released it, snaking his other hand underneath her arm to come up and grasp her other breast, cupping and squeeze it, encircling her waist with his arms. Michelle grabbed into the leather of Radu’s sleeves and held on. “Oh--that's--that's so good,” she managed to gasp out, turning her head and pressing her feverish forehead against Radu’s cold jaw and cheekbone. 

“I do so love hearing the sound of your moans, such sweet agony. Tell me, my dear, what does it feel like to be in the arms of a monster? To have him touching you so intimately?” he growled huskily.

His left hand released her abused nipple and slid back down over her ribs and stomach, only this time Michelle felt it pass beyond her navel until he was resting just over the black triangle of curls. Her left hand reached instinctively to grab at his arm; there was obvious trepidation still for fear that he might scratch her yet with his nails. She reminded herself then that if he’d wanted to do so before then it would have happened, he’d certainly had more than one opportunity present itself.

Radu waited, feeling the tension in the grip on his arm loosen, and Michelle nod against his cheek to continue. He spread her legs a bit wider in stance using the toe of his boot to nudge her feet apart. When he felt it was enough he fitted the heel of his palm against her slit, his fingers cupping against her outer lips, and started to grind his palm against her swollen clit. Crying out, Michelle grasped his left arm with both of her hands, gripping the leather of his sleeve tighter and tighter as her hips tried to find the rhythm he was making with his palm, stuttering and shaky. She throbbed and bucked against the erection, feeling it slide against her backside everytime she moved.

Radu groaned. “Such a pretty sight you are--” he managed to rasp out, smirked against the crown of her head, into her dark hair. “--and so much fun to play with.” He played with her for what felt like forever. Eventually, Radu pulled his hand away and she saw him lift it up to their eye level. It was glistening from her excitement. “Ești umed drăguț,” Radu’s voice was raw with lust against her ear and Michelle shivered. 

He turned her, shoving her back onto the mattress so she flopped back, her legs hanging over the edge while he stood between them looking down at her. She watched as Radu shucked off his jacket, letting it slip to the floor alongside her own clothing, then watched as he stripped his leather vest off before throwing it onto the pile. His spidery fingers made quick work at the lacings of his trousers, a scene Michelle internally chuckled at, having wondered how Radu might dress without difficulty considering how long and strange his fingers were. It obviously didn’t impede him as he parted the opening panels and pulled himself out at last for her to see, giving the head of his cock a few lazy strokes.

The heat in her core intensified as she looked down the length of her body at his cock. Even in the gloom of the dark bed chamber she could see the outline of it which was maybe longer than average, although in retrospect she hadn’t seen many erections save for the few boyfriends she’d had in her own past; nothing to write home about. It was as pale as his skin though the head was ruddy, almost as red as the color of his lips were, and the slit was wet with his own excitement.

_Its not the size of the ship,_ she reminded herself, _it's the motion of the ocean._

Michelle sat up from the bed and reached out to grasp him, her hand covering his own, feeling as he stroked up and down the length of it. He felt cool and smooth like marble, not cold like how his hands had felt to her the first time she’d examined them. Michelle wondered then if it was because he had fed and had fresh circulating blood in his system that made the difference. Something she’d file away for later.

“Hold on,” she told him and retrieved the condom laying next to her on the bed. Tearing the foil packet open she held it up for him to see, unsure of if he’d ever seen one before.

“Hmm, not unlike a silk sheath or the use of cleaned guts to make one,” Radu observed letting go of himself. Michelle laughed breathily. “It's also thankfully less gross,” she said before rolling it on to him. An idea came to mind and she pulled the edges of his trousers down a bit more with her free hand so his sac was exposed underneath the base where Michelle now held him. His skin there was surprisingly darker, especially along his seam and interestingly, Michelle noted he was absent of hair. She ran her hand over his sharp hip bone and down until she was palming him, feeling how different the texture was. _How strange_ she thought. 

Radu let out a rusty moan as he felt Michelle’s hand cup and knead his balls. Her other hand began to stroke, working him from base to tip, rolling her thumb under the head where it was most sensitive. Even through the rubber of the condom, the sensation of her hands was enough to drive him mad. _If she continued like this he’d spill too soon_ , Radu thought.

“Enough. Lay back now,” he sighed. Michelle released him and scooted further back on the old mattress, opening her legs wider when Radu told her to.

“More,” Radu growled, drinking in the lewdness of the image before him of her body so vulnerable and willing beneath him. Michelle blushed hotly and opened her legs further as directed. He began by trailing the ends of his claws lightly over her skin, starting from her right ankle, going up teasingly slow and light across her inner thigh and skipping over her aching core, switching over to her left leg and going down the other side. Radu felt her shiver against him and watched as her skin prickled where his nails had ghosted over sensitive nerves, as the muscles in her thighs jumped and twitched. He could hear the rush of her blood inside her thighs, the excitement and arousal speeding the cells along like the current of a river. _He could lean down so easily and sink his aching fangs into her_ , he mused. _It would be so easy, he was so close to it, to feeling the sudden burst of her blood rushing into his mouth, of tasting just how sweet she really was. Like honey, like nectar._

He wouldn't deny that it was a pleasant mental image for him and his proclivities but Radu had also given his word, something he took great measures at times to keep even if it frustrated him to no end. His nature sometimes kept him from fulfilling his own desires. But not tonight. He had loftier pursuits.

On the other hand, having heightened senses also meant it had its many benefits; the musk of her arousal now that she was completely open for him and the sight of her damp curls between her legs, dark and dewy. The sound of her soft sighs as he continued his caressing up and down her legs. Radu felt his head swimming from the bombardment of them all even as he knelt over her on the bed. On his hands and knees, he crawled slowly up the length of her body until he was sitting back on his heels in front of her open legs. Reaching under her knees he pushed them up against her chest, but not before depositing a light kiss to each kneecap. 

Michelle couldn’t help the small smile that crept over her lips when he did that, it wasn’t what she’d expected him to do, something almost--dare she say affectionate. 

“There,” he said getting situated, his thumbs rubbing cold circles on her inner thighs. “Now I can reach all of you.” 

Michelle blushed again and felt his cock against her slit. With one hand he brought her left leg around so that it curled against his hip and took himself in hand, careful still of where his claws were in all this. Radu felt Michelle’s body shudder as he started to tease at her opening with the head of his cock, swiping it up and down through her now wet folds. _It was so hot,_ _he wasn’t even inside her yet_ he thought _, and it was so feverishly hot._

Michelle looked down at their bodies, feeling him play with her, and felt another jolt of excitement go through her lower region. Over her inner folds and across her clit before dipping inside just enough to be frustrating but not go completely in. He continued this for what felt like forever to Michelle until it was too much. “Oh come on,” she whined trying to buck her hips up to meet him, feeling when he’d dip a little more, just a little deeper each time. “Don’t tease me..” she moaned.

The chuckle she heard from him was more of a rumble as he backed off from her. “You’ll have to be more specific _draga_...” 

_Ah_ , she thought taking a quick mental note, _I guess even dirty talk is timeless. Oh what the hell, in for a penny…_

“Please...p-please, I want--I want you…”

Radu’s heart suddenly jerked and twinged briefly, an almost needle-like sensation in his chest at the sound of those words uttered from her lips. A grin slowly stretched over his lips, euphoric.

“...to fuck me,” Michelle said, her pupils blown as she looked up at him.

The grin he’d felt dissolved a little, replacing instead with a cold heat building in his belly, much stronger than the bloodstones’ essence had ever made him feel; lust curled like smoke in his being, sang in his veins, and replaced the sting he’d felt momentarily. 

Finally, he pushed into her in slow increments until he was fully seated inside her from root to tip, letting out a hoarse groan at the intensity of her heat. Underneath him, Michelle bit her lip moaning at the familiar stretch as he entered her. She too felt the odd effect of his being, how cold he was between her legs now and how full it felt. It did seem to take some of the sting away; it had been several years since her last time being so intimate. Both stayed still in the moment, adjusting to the others presence. 

Michelle’s hands found his face in the dark, cupping his jawline and running her thumbs over his cheeks in a tender display. It was enough to make his heart ache again at such a simple gesture, not for one such as him. Her lips were so gentle when they found his yet powered by a similar hunger they both shared at that moment. Radu returned the kiss eagerly, gathering her head in his palm. His thrusting was slow at first, unsure. But when he felt her moan against his mouth he knew to continue.

For Michelle, the kiss had been a spur of the moment reaction, her mind not registering that his mouth might be the most dangerous part of his physiology. But it had just happened, it had felt so natural to just lean up and want to feel his lips on hers, she’d momentarily forgotten what he was capable of. His tongue stole into her mouth then, chilly and seeking and her mind happily forgot what it had just been trying to think. She wrapped her legs around his middle, feeling his hips roll against her creating delicious friction between her legs . 

Radu broke away from kissing and bent down over Michelle’s body to suck and tongue her breasts, making wet sucking sounds of pleasure. She shuddered and moaned, raking her short nails into his russet hair, pulling hard against his scalp. Radu growled against her, delirious from the mix of pain and pleasure, and ground his cock deeper and faster inside of her, slamming their hips together. The mattress under them complained at the two bodies bouncing around on it but stayed sturdy. 

“Ah! Ah--fuck!” Michelle cried out at being jostled, stars bursting behind her eyelids when she closed them. 

He sucked a pink tip back into his mouth to nibble and worry between his front teeth, his eyes watching Michelle’s face shift in its many forms of pleasure. The hand that wasn’t cradling the back of Michelle’s head stole down between their legs began to swirl around her clit, using the soft pad of his thumb sideways so that his talon was safely away from her most delicate place and felt her throb around him. 

Michelle jerked at the sudden cold of his thumb on her but it quickly warmed and evened out, replaced with little wonderful shocks in and outside of her as she clenched around his girth more.

Radu let go of her nipple, now red and puffy from his ardent nursing and stole back up her body and pressed their foreheads together, hers feverish and sticky with sweat; she smelled musky and sweet, the smell of mating. Radu could feel his own body breaking out into a cold sweat from exertion. “ _A fost atât de mult_ ... _atât de mult_ …” he muttered breathlessly. Loosely in the back of her mind, Michelle heard Radu speaking Romanian and attempted to translate through the fog of sex.

“I--I know, me too...Mmm!” she moaned and ground her hips up to meet him, feeling as he rubbed against the spot that made her legs weak and her toes curl against his back. The thumb rubbing her clit switched from circling her to rubbing up and down and flicking it before switching back to fast circles. It felt so good, she couldn't think beyond how amazing it was and instead let her body do what felt right which was rock against him harder and faster. “There! Right there, don’t stop!” she begged.

“A mea ... a mea ... spune că ești a mea …” he continued, his voice taking on a desperate tone. Michelle didn’t quite understand that last one but guessed that they were both close from the way his hips here getting more erratic with thrusting. 

“I’m close--I’m close...ahh!” she cried out.

  
  


Michelle felt his thrusting speedup, his raspy groans of pleasure increasing. Every part of her was open to him, from the snap of his hips as he dove inside her to the cold puffs of air that came from his red-stained mouth and ghosted over her face. Her hands clutched at his shoulders desperately chasing after her end, approaching it very rapidly. "Don't stop, don't stop!" Michelle begged him.

Michelle felt his thumb on her over sensitive clit make her suddenly pulse hard once--twice--three times and send her over the egde with a shrill cry from herself which was followed with his own climax as he weakly continued to thrust inside her. Radu stilled and bellowed a grinding desperate sound before spilling inside her heat, gasping raggedly, his shoulders heaving.Her face was buried in his shoulder which muffled her salacious moaning until they both relaxed again against each other. A moment later and Radu slipped free of Michelle with a groan from them both before slumping onto his side on the bed next to Michelle, both panting heavily. Absentmindedly, he felt one of her hands reach over him and roll the the condom off, disposing of it before laying back next to him exausted.

Maneuvering his claws carefully so as not to scratch, Radu gathered Michelle against him. With the back of her head cradled in his palm, he combed his claws through her short dark hair which was tucked under his chin while he found her hip and rested his other hand there. Michelle sighed, feeling relaxed and let him move her as he pleased until they were both comfortable on the moth-eaten velvet duvet of the old bed, raising her own hand to hold his arm that rested over her torso. 

“...I did not last long...it has been some time for me…” she heard him mutter against her hair. 

“Yeah...you’d said. That was pretty incredible still….although...I never would have taken you for a cuddler after,” she sighed, shifting her legs against his. There was a twinge between her legs which made her hiss sharply from the slight sting. _Wasn’t expecting that,_ thought Michelle. "Owch."

Radu’s palm pushed at her hip until she turned her lower half so it reclined on the mattress instead of being on her side facing him. When that was done he let his palm rest just below her navel, his fingers spanning down against her mound, nails catching the dark triangle of curls. 

“The ache will diminish in a day's time….was the “experimentation” worth your scientific curiosity?” he asked her.

“Experimentation? That's probably the first time I’ve heard it called that,” she laughed. “No, I’m glad. It was...more than good. It was _really_ good. But it’s also been a while for me too, so...” Michelle trailed off. “No. It was really amazing. And I wanted it to happen and I guess that--that I’m glad you were a part of that.” 

Radu watched her with half-closed eyes, a little smirk playing in the corner of his mouth. “You expected otherwise?”

“I...was worried you might--you know--that you might get caught up in the moment and...bite me.” Even after all that she was still wary about him; but Michelle reminded herself again that if he’d wanted to he could have easily at any moment.

“And…I take it none of that happened?” asked Radu who was now looking at her lips again distractedly.

“...no. Thank you,” she whispered, eyes closing as languid sleepiness crept over her. 

_So strange, Miss Morgan--no,_ he told himself- _-Michelle--_ _was really not like anyone he had ever encountered, even with almost a thousand years of existence under his belt. He couldn’t say he had tons of encounters to compare this to, but there were always patterns he could follow, repetition he could fall back upon. Now there wasn’t anything, no guideline on how to proceed. There was still the matter of dealing with Stefan, and the festival's revelries but they would easily be dealt with soon enough. After that…_

_Well,_ thought Radu looking down at the reposing woman in his arms, _he would allow himself this moment of indulgence. Perhaps in time she might welcome the thought of his bite instead of dread it... she could be his consort even. To stay by his side_ _like this,_ _for eternity. The Castle, The Bloodstone...and a lover._

Only time would tell. 


End file.
